Chief Marketer Staff

• Agencies

  Visa Brings Checking Alternative to the Streets of New York

  Visa is bringing its “Life Takes Recycling” TV spot to the streets of New York City next week to drive home a message that checkbooks are becoming obsolete.

• 7UP Goes Natural

  7UP is removing all artificial ingredients from the soda in a bid to address consumer demand for natural products.

• News Brief

  FORD: has launched When It Fits, You Win, a national sweepstakes for

• Visa: Life Takes Rebranding

  The longstanding brand platform for
  Visa (“It’s everywhere you want to be”) is no longer everywhere it used to be. In February the leading payment network unveiled its first new tagline in 20 years, “Life takes Visa,” steering the brand in a whole new direction.

• Agencies

  Why Do You Have High-Value Customers?

  Everyone has customers who are more valuable than others. But why do you have them? Put another way, why did they choose to become a high-value customer?

• Digital Media, Collaborative Thinking, and the Whole-Brained Approach

  Marketers know they need to employ digital marketing as part of their media mix, but many still wrestle with the questions of when, which, and how much. Discovering these elusive answers and getting the most out of any digital marketing effort requires a melding of the left brain and the right brain, a marriage of art and science.

• Global Marketing: Toe Dippers, Stubbed Toes, and Second Bouncers

  Everyone needs ammunition to convince the budgetary powers-that-be that globalization will enhance shareholder value. Some of that ammo will come from the tales of successful companies that have proactively sought to extend their reach to consumers and business partners around the world.

• Agencies

  Colloquy Corner: The Customer, Not the Payment Type, Is King

  Loyalty marketers seek to reward and recognize best customers and keep them coming back for more. To segment best customers from infrequent shoppers, one-offs, or visiting relatives, you must track their transactional behavior. Customers will pay with cash, checks, and credit and debit cards, and you ideally need to track each of these tender types to develop a complete view of their behavior.

• Microsoft Taps Ask CEO to Lead MSN

  Microsoft has hired the CEO of search rival Ask.com to head its MSN Internet business.

• Internet Ad Spend Broke Records in 2005: IAB

  Internet advertising revenues in the U.S. totaled $12.5 billion in 2005, exceeding the previous year’s figure by 30%, according to a report issued by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers.